I sort of fell into political science: it all started with a course I took to satisfy a HASS requirement. In that foreign policy course, I finally understood things about the history of Cuba—my country of birth—that no one had ever been able to explain to me. After that, a concentration became a minor became a major. Soon I couldn't imagine not taking at least half my coursework from the political science department each semester.

The Washington Internship program gave me the opportunity to experience a little bit of what it was like to be a lobbyist in DC, an experience which inspired me to later work for a Massachusetts state senator and get more involved in politics. My political science courses helped shape my understanding of the world and gave me tools I still use today—in particular, statistical analysis techniques I use in my empirical work. They also taught me to think critically, read voluminously, write effectively, and get comfortable with uncertainty. These skills served me well in law school, as a law clerk to a federal judge, as a federal employee in the nascent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and now as a law professor. I truly would not be where I am today but for having majored in political science at MIT.